He wasn't aware
by Anrheithwyr
Summary: There were many things that Cedric Diggory didn't know. Things he wasn't aware of.


_**Since my last story was kind of ridiculous, here is a more serious one. Written for the 'Dark Side Competition' by Empress Empoleon. Category 'Helga Hufflepuff's Cup' (write about a Hufflepuff) Doing this about my favorite Hufflepuff, Cedric Diggory. Also, I don't own any part of HP that you recognise. No suing. **_

….

For the record, Cedric wasn't even aware that Harry _liked _Cho. He assumed, like most other students, that Potter was in love with Hermione Granger and was having a sordid affair with her behind Viktor Krum's back. Well, _maybe _not an affair, but there must have been something going on between those two. They were always together and Cedric could have sworn he'd seen Granger _kiss _Potter on the cheek.

So, no, Cedric was not aware that Harry had _any _romantic feelings for Cho Chang, not even remotely. Would it have made a difference to who he asked out to the Yule Ball? Probably not-but he would have at least considered the moral issue of stealing another man's potential love. (Cedric was nothing if not a gentleman.)

So, when he asked Cho Chang out to the Yule Ball with him on that sunny Wednesday (along with a couple of dates _afterward_) he had absolutely no reason to believe she would say anything other than yes. Cho (who _did _know about Harry's slight crush on her) told Cedric she'd consider his option and get back to him that. Friday.

And she did, with all these happy smiles and her yeses and wanting to know what he was wearing, so they could coordinate. He had never been happier.

….

Another one of the things Cedric had never been aware of was one of the local ghosts that permanently inhabited Hogwarts. Namely, the ghost of a young fourteen year old who enjoyed haunting toilets. Well, she didn't exactly _like _haunting toilets, but that was the most likely place to look when it came to Moaning Myrtle. (That is, if you _were _looking for her. Often, Myrtle liked to pop up in various places, unwanted and greatly disgruntling those around her.)

Cedric had decided to go enjoy a nice, long soak in the Prefect's Bathroom one evening when he knew no one else would be around. As a Hogwarts Champion in the TriWizard Tournament, it was Cedric's job to figure out a clue somehow mysteriously hidden in the large golden egg he had retrieved from a dragon. _What _the clue was and _how _he was meant to find it was the hardest part-so far, all the egg did was screech inhumanly and make most people in the immediate vicinity (and within a fifty mile radius) very angry.

He wasn't really sure where he got the idea of going to the baths to test the egg, only that he found himself doing just that one cold Thursday night, egg in hand and feeling very foolish. Thank _Merlin_ it worked, or he would have just wasted forty minutes of his life in a _bath_.

He felt like he was being watched the entire time, like there was someone else in the bathroom, but he never saw anyone, no matter how many times he checked. He was never aware of the young, nearly transparent, figure of a girl who had died nearly fifty years before. She watched him, floating amongst the bubbles and wishing she could talk to him. Wishing that, not for the first time that day, she was alive and could date and get married, like normal girls. Wishing she wasn't a fourteen year old with fourteen year old feelings, watching a boy.

No, Cedric was not aware.

….

Cedric was not aware that anyone would miss him so much. Yes, he knew he was popular and the Hufflepuffs liked him, and a bunch of people from the other houses thought he was a nice guy. Sure, Cho would probably cry, and so would a couple of others, but he wasn't aware that nearly the entire school would see Cedric off, his body submerged in the lake near his house.

He wasn't aware that people would cry for hours both before and after, bemoaning the short life of Cedric Diggory. Wasn't aware he'd be missed. He wasn't aware he'd be a topic of conflict for the entire next year, or the subject of one boy's nightmares for weeks.

Cedric Diggory wasn't aware that one day, he was going to be very, very important. And then, he would be dead.


End file.
